Really not trying to bring in the “race thang” again, but when I think about when I was in high school, there were NO Asians in music videos…oh wait, there was this one by One Voice. haha. And now, look, we have 5 come out, all different genres, all different directors! (WF is definitely not the only ppl who can make good videos, haha) This is truly change, for the better. I’m really proud of our friends creating this art and pursuing their dreams, and now, sharing it with others to hopefully inspire the next wave! Keep it up everyone!!

So sit back and enjoy the latest and greatest from these artists. Congrats to the directors and crew involved as well!

Let’s start with this very summery tune and video by Kina Grannis!

Mix it up with this sick rap song by Dumbfoundead. Listen to the lyrics, really great words…

AJ Rafael’s newest is really intense and powerful…

Lighten it up w/ Clara’s video, super cute…

And let’s end it on some super energy with FM’s latest Remix video to their single “OMG if I was You” ft. Snoop Dogg. They shot it while on their huge US campus tour!

And how can we forget about our very own w/ David Choi? =)

Wow! How’s that for our very own version of TRL Top Video Countdown! Incredible.

Your FM update. Recently the guys from Far*East Movement have finished up a nationwide tour with LMAFO and Lil Jon, performed at the X-Games, had their music featured during the swimsuit round of Ms. America…oh, and they got signed.

Last week something truly momentous happened. Our brothers/good friends Far*East Movement, aka FM, signed a record deal with Cherrytree Records! In case you don’t know, Cherrytree is an imprint (division) of Interscope Recrods which focuses on new artists with growth potential. They obviously saw something special with FM and realized the huge potential/talent they possess, something that we’ve seen the past few years working with them. Finally, after several months of scoping them out, working closer and closer, they reached an agreement, and FM is now signed to a major label. They’re label mates with freaking Lady Gaga, good lord. Click here (link) for the whole story, very moving in fact at how their path to this point has really come full circle.

I can’t say it enough. These guys are so inspiring. They believed in themselves, devoted their lives to it, sacrificed so much, worked their butts off, hit lows, hit highs…and it’s paying off. I know this is just the beginning of a new journey for them, but in my eyes, they’re a success story already. Truly an example that we can all look up to, that hard work pays off. Success isn’t easy, and you must stay driven and dedicated. Furthermore, how many Asian American hiphop-pop mainstream artists are out there right now? Yeah, this is a big win for our community too. Be proud.

Congrats to FM. They’ve got big big news up ahead, and you know you wanna follow along their journey. FM’s twitter @fareastmovement. Go send them a congratulations.

Epic! Our buddies FM and Quest were in Snoop dogg’s latest music video “I wanna rock.” Quest looked amazing and even though Far East Movement was in there for a split second they looked so cool! Proud moment indeed, congrats guys.

FM’s song “Girls on the Dance Floor” was played on the show!!!
Now, I didn’t watch a single episode this season, but ya know how Mario Lopez (aka AC Slater from “Saved by the Bell”) always intros a performance by saying the song and artists… dude, he said “FarEast Movement”! Mario Lopez, to a worldwide audience of millions just introduced and played their song. I was soooo proud. If I was FM, growing up watching Saved by the Bell, and you told me that some day AC Slater would mention my name, I’d be like…no wayzz.
Heh, anyway, congrats to the FM boys on this major play. Step by step, making their way to mainstreatm, it’s awesome. You can watch the clip below.

And if that weren’t enough…last night, their song “Dance Like Michael Jackson” (the song we made a music video for along with Quest Dance Crew) was on Gossip Girl. Check out the clip below (thanks to Jordyce for recording).

Dang, that’s so crazy! To be able to say “our music is on major television”. Props FM, major props. Boys and girls, this is called “hard work paying off” =) I’m taking notes.

Continuing on our list of friends doing awesome stuff… our buddy David Choi is in South KOREA! As we just flew back from Asia, David was headed out. He’s playing a couple shows over there and took the chance to visit some family he hasn’t seen in decades. Being the diligent YouTuber he is, David has thankfully been uploading videos of his time in Korea and it’s pretty cool. Nothing crazy, just simple videos showing his family and how they live out there. 

Doesn’t it seem so peaceful over there? Such simple lives. I was talking to David last night and we were saying how important it is to see family, learn from them, and try to understand where we came from. Man, imagine all the crazy stuff that happened in your parents lives, your grandparents lives, before you even existed. We can’t even comprehend.

Wishing more safe travels to David and successful shows over there. I think he may not want to come back anytime soon, it’s so nice over there. Take your time David!

Doesn’t he look so much like his grandpa? That’s what he’s going to look like in 70 years.

THANK YOU TO FAR*EAST MOVEMENT, who without them, there would be no ISA. I wonder if people really understand, this whole ISA thing was literally done by the 3 of us sitting down with the 4 of them and creating this show. (Ok that may be over simplifying because we had a LOT of help, that’ll come later). But really, these guys are so hardworking, so true, and so humble themselves that it has been such an honor and privelage to work with them. And for them to look at us the same, equally means so much to us. The night before the show, it hit me… this was our THIRD ISA concert in the past yr (the first one was 9/7/08 so we just made it). From LA, to SF, back to LA… it’s been an incredible year. 3?! that’s not normal, haha. I really don’t know how we did it. which leads us to the next section…

Thank you to 4C the Power for putting on great workshops that we were so glad to take part in. For helping us give back to the community. For being the hands and feet for ISA by finding volunteers and volunteering yourselves. It means so much to us. Support like yours is really what keeps us going.

Thank you DIANA and LINDA for being the masterminds. This time around was soooo much easier on us and FM all because of your hardwork and diligence. Trust us, it doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. You girls are the true stars of ISA before all of us.
THANK YOU, THE FANS AND SUPPORTERS. How did we pull of 3 major, sold out concerts w/in one single year? Yeah, a lotta hard work on our part, but ultimately because you guys bought the tickets. You guys told your friends and spread the word. You guys were in the crowds and online cheering for us. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do another three concerts this coming year, but for sure there will be more ISAs, bigger, better, and outside of CA we promise…haha, as long as we have you out there to fill up the seats and help build this movement.

Alright, enough of the mushy stuff… here are some select photos I went through for all the lazy busy ppl who didn’t wanna sift through the bazillion pics from Shinobi. THANK YOU SHINOBI STUDIOS for your AMAZING work. Your photos truly stand out and give ISA the imagery that propels it forward.

THANK YOU to our HOSTS, Tom Ngo and Lydia Paek. Tom, you are the truth. Period. Lydia, you are such a natural and your personality really brightened the theater. Hope to work with you more!

Clara Chung our JCP Breakout Performer contest winner opening the show with an original song of hers! We drove her to the concert in a limosine.

Then GLP took the stage. They sang some 90s covers which gave them super cool points right off the bat.

G is for Gabe Bondoc! His style is so awesome.

L is for Leejay, the beatboxer of the group who did some crazy stuff…plus he could dance really well as he showed off at the end of the show.

P is for Passion. He was at our last ISA in SF. So good to have him back.

Kina Grannis graced the stage next, singing a couple of her songs. I think the whole theater got chills. She’s sucha sweet girl… who you miiiight be seeing in a future WF short! oops, leaked.

Quest Crew was up next and…they were just phenomenal.

Victor Kim doing the unthinkable.

There’s a reason we put Quest right before intermission. It’s because no one could follow them. They had the whole audience on their feet, and this is just halfway into the concert!! I’m so glad we were able to bring them back this year… we had them at the first ISA, before they were the ABDC champions! So proud of them.

KevJumba took the stage next. Yup, in the flesh. The crowd went crazy for him and his antics.

Tom and him did a little skit, looks like they’re getting angry!! haha. In the back you can see Derrick…he’s the one that made the amazing ISA trailer. We flew him in from Seattle as our way to say thanks. Kev brought him on stage as an added bonus.

David Choi, what else can I say that I didn’t already. Did you read my last post. I still get a little emotional when I watch the clip of him performing and everyone sings along.

And to close out the show the way no one else can…the one and only Far*East Movement. I can’t believe how far they’ve come in just the past year. Since the first ISA, they’ve done some amazing things. Song top 4 on the radio, national mainstream radio play, performing at Powerhouse with BEP, Pitbull, and JAY-Z! Truly a blessing to see them still so humble and driven.

KevNish

J-Spliff

Prohgress

They brought everyone back out on stage for the finale song “Girls on the Dance Floor” and everyone was just rockin out and celebrating on stage. It was truly a grand finale to the whole night. For an even more indepth look at the concert and what happened before and after, check out FM’s recap. 

Oh yeah…and these guys.

Mission accomplished. This was a loooong post. I’m spent. One last Thank you. This past week has been epic. …to be continued.

FM, David Choi, and us getting ready to meet the fans. Check out the awesome posters behind us. Those were submissions for the “Best poster contest” The winner got tickets to ISA.

Got the assembly line going, but even though we’re only meeting them for just a few minutes, it still means a lot to us. 

FM is touring with LMFAO right now! (I’m in Miami). These rockstars. Their song “Girls on the Dance Floor” is getting sooo much play around the nation now. They’re newest single was released on LA radio last week. Check it out!

Our homie David Choi. We got a couple collabs in the works right now…you’re not ready =P Cathy Nguyen also stopped by. lalalaOMGit’sCathyNguyen!

There were a few eating contests to win tickets. California Roll contest, Yogurt contest, and here a Boba drinking contest. Each person had to chug TWO LARGE boba drinks. Wes participated, but didn’t really try, he just wanted the free drink. haha

There was also an epic Chubby Bunny contest for two Backstage passes (which are sold out). I don’t think these girls won, but seems like they’re just having fun, which is better than choking on marshmellows just to meet us and others at the show, lol.

We also had our new tshirts and merch on sale, available for the first time to the public. Oh shoot, did I just accidently leak the new designs? Ted is working suuuuper hard to get the new store live…it’ll be up realllyyyy soon guys, I promise. Then you can get your own “Pew Pew” shirt!

Shoutout to Jonathan Chang for setting this all up.

Prohgress from FM wild n out. Final give away of the day. And the winner is……

YOU! It was a really fun day. Even if you weren’t there, we know you got our back from afar. If you made it out and we got a picture together or something, it was great to meet you. Wes, Ted, and myself are constantly asking ourselves why we have such amazing supporters and acknowledging how lucky we are. We’ve got a few more ticket tour stops left. ISA is right around the corner! Get your tickets now, they’re gonna be gone soon. Summer’s coming to a close. I can feel the seasons changing.

A friendly update from your friends at ISA

Saturday Aug. 15 – Tour kickoff!
This one’s a special event. With over $2000 in prizes and giveaways, there’s going to be contests and raffles throughout the afternoon. For more details on all the prizes and contests, visit the FB event page and RSVP! You could even win backstage passes! David Choi will be stopping by too.
Whimsical Yogurt
1655 S. Azusa Ave
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 
2-5pm 

Sunday Aug. 16
AU79 (San Gabriel)
1635 S. San Gabriel Blvd. #E
San Gabriel, CA 91776
3-5pm

Monday Aug. 17
AU79 (Arcadia)
815 W. Naomi Ave. Ste G
Arcadia, CA 91007
6-8pm

Wednesday Aug. 19
It’s a Grind
13295 South St.
Cerritos, CA 90703
6-8pm

Thursday Aug. 20
Giant Robot
2015 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
6-8pm

Friday Aug. 21
Yogurt Land
19755 E. Colima Rd.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
6-8pm 

Whoo, that’s a lot of stops! I’m sure there’s one convenient for you. Pass the word along and we can’t wait to see you and your buddies and your family and your pets and your imaginary friends there. Don’t forget, you can buy your tickets online first to make sure you get them. Click HERE

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Click here to buy now! There are 4 ticket types! General Admission ($20), VIP Pass ($50), VIP Pit ($50), and Backstage Pass ($95). Be sure to read the description of what each type of ticket gets you!

AND…Check out this line up!!

KevJumba

Bruno Mars

GLP (Gabe Bondoc, Leejay, Passion)

David Choi

Kina Grannis

Quest Dance Crew

Wong Fu Productions

Far*East Movement

Hosted by: Tom Ngo and Lydia Paek

Is that not the craziest collection of all your favorite ppls in one show? We did our best to have a variety of different acts so that you get a taste of everything in the show. Tickets have been on sale since Saturday, and they’re already starting to go fast (I’m not kidding). Be sure to get your tickets sooner than later! Hit the jump for some top secret information.

Starting August 15th we’re doing to go on a ticket tour around the LA area. FM and us will personally be going to some special locations where you can meet and chill with us, get some cool new FM and Wong Fu gear, and also buy your tickets in person. The first stop will be in Hacienda Heights at Whimsical Yogurt on Saturday Aug. 15th in the afternoon. There’s gonna be giveaways and contests so don’t miss out. Check here for more event info! We wanna see you there!

2nd…JCPenney is sponsoring this next ISA, and we’re working with them to put on a really cool contest where you could win plane tickets to LA so that you can be in the show on Sept 6th! Here’s some secret info to give you a head start before we even launch the contest. We’re looking for a “breakout performer”. First, go to JCPenney and pick out something to wear in the video from their Back To School line. Then make a video of yourself showing off your talent. It could be anything (singing, dancing, juggling, yo-yo-ing, drawing). You’ll hafta submit the video and then get votes. More details to come, but thought I’d give you the heads up so you can start working on your videos NOW! If you win, we’re bringing you out to the show to perform for everyone!

Ok, that’s it for now. Secret transmission…Out.

For now you gotta follow us on the ISA twitter AND add ISA on Facebook because we have some major announcements coming within mere DAYS! The LINEUP, ticket TOUR stops so you can meet us, and a CONTEST to win plane tickets out to LA to be IN the show. Oh em gee. You don’t want to miss any of this news, so keep checking back here and follow us on those links.

(Shooting in 12 hrs with Cathy Nguyen [lilcdawg]. Shoot, we got lines to memorize!!)